Bloodsport (album)

Bloodsport is the third studio album by English electronic band Sneaker Pimps. It was released on 22 January 2002, through record label Tommy Boy.

Bloodsport
Studio album by
Sneaker Pimps
Released22 January 2002
Studio
  • Line of Flight Studios
  • Strongroom, London
GenreTrip hop[1]
Length60:38
Label
Producer
Sneaker Pimps chronology
Splinter
(1999)		 Bloodsport
(2002)		 Squaring the Circle
(2021)

Despite a positive fan reception, it received a mediocre response from music critics at the time of its release, and was commercially unsuccessful, failing to chart in the band's home country of the UK.

It would also be the last album recorded before their 20 year hiatus until 2021's release of Squaring The Circle, in which the band reformed and released their long-awaited, double album.

Content

The album opener "Kiro TV" is named after the US television station KIRO-TV. The title of "Loretta Young Silks" refers to the US actress Loretta Young.

Musical style

Described as trip hop,[1] the album had the label "goth" affixed to it by more than one reviewer.[1][2]

Release

Bloodsport was released on 22 January 2002 on CD as well as double red vinyl, through record label Tommy Boy.

It failed to chart in the band's home country of the UK, but reached number 68 in the Austrian top 75 album chart.[3] Lead single "Sick" charted at 100 on the UK Singles Chart.[4]

The album was originally intended to be called Forsythe, but was changed last minute. The recording sessions were mainly in rural France and several Bloodsportera songs which weren't included on the final album were released elsewhere: Miami Counting appears as a B-side for the Loretta Young Silks single, the Sick single and the Japanese edition of Bloodsport contain a track called After Every Party I Die, which was later re-recorded by Chris Corner's side project IAMX and released on the album The Alternative, O-Type was included as a B-side on the 12-inch vinyl single of Bloodsport but was never released in the digital realm and a completely unreleased track called Polaroids was later used on the IAMX album Kiss and Swallow, albeit in a totally revamped and remixed form. A proposed track mentioned on their old forum was teased as Masturbate, but this was never recorded.

Reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic50/100[5]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
Drowned in Sound4/10[7]
Entertainment WeeklyC+[2]
NME4/10[1]
Q[8]

Despite garnering a positive response from listeners and fans on Metacritic,[5] Bloodsport was given a generally negative reception from music critics at the time of its release. This was perhaps epitomised in Drowned in Sound's review: "How do you criticise one of your favourite bands ever? [...] this is classic Sneaker Pimps, which is my main gripe about this album, its [sic] too classic Sneaker Pimps. All of the songs seem to be rehashes of previous releases. To put it bluntly this band should have and could have progressed. [sic]"[7]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Chris Corner; Liam Howe; Ian Pickering, except "Grazes"

No.TitleLength
1."Kiro TV"3:45
2."Sick"4:15
3."Small Town Witch"4:48
4."Black Sheep"4:01
5."Loretta Young Silks"5:58
6."M'aidez"5:12
7."The Fuel"4:51
8."Bloodsport"5:24
9."Think Harder"4:44
10."Blue Movie"4:08
11."Grazes"6:44
12."After Every Party I Die" (Japanese edition bonus track)6:48

Samples
  • 'Kiro TV' sampled Ultravox's track: 'ROckWrok' (1977)
  • 'Sick' sampled André Previn's track: 'Executive Party' from the film 'Rollerball' (1975)
  • 'Small Town Witch' sampled Iggy Pop's track: 'Nightclubbing' (1977)
  • 'Loretta Young Silks' sampled Bill Withers' track: 'I Wish You Well' (1975) and Ippu-Do's track: 'Chinese Reggae' (1980)
  • 'The Fuel' sampled James Horner's tracks: 'Following Kirwell' and 'Irina's Chase' from the film 'Gorky Park' (1983)
  • 'Bloodsport' sampled Visage's track: 'Tar' (1979)
  • 'Blue Movie' sampled The Keynotes' track: 'Canaan's Land' (1973)
  • The unreleased 'Bloodsport' session track 'Polaroids' sampled Gary Numan's track: 'Metal' (1979)
  • 'O-Type', the b-side to 'Bloodsport' sampled both The Human League's track: 'Love Action' (1981) and Bauhaus' track: 'Three Shadows (Part Three)' (1982)

References
  1. Alexander, Jim (7 February 2002). "Sneaker Pimps : Bloodsport". NME. Archived from the original on 5 July 2002. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  2. Burr, Ty (3 May 2002). "Handcream for a Generation; In Our Gun; Transmission; Bloodsport | EW.com". EW.com. Archived from the original on 19 June 2007. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  3. "Sneaker Pimps – Bloodsport – austriancharts.at". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  4. "Sneaker Pimps | Full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  5. "Blood Sport by Sneaker Pimps Reviews and Tracks – Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  6. Bush, John. "Bloodsport – Sneaker Pimps | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  7. "Album Review: Sneaker Pimps – Bloodsport / Releases / Releases // Drowned in Sound". 9 May 2002. Archived from the original on 12 February 2019. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  8. "[Q review]". Q: 107. January 2002.
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